Otokage
by bad girl 61
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own naruto. I adopted this story from XxDarkAngel1127xX. The first 13 chapters are the original. Rated M for Hidan's mouth and some sex. I have some other stories up here check them out.
1. Chapter 1

Otokage

Chapter 1

Normal P.O.V.

"Any last words bitch?" Karin sneered.

Sakura could only grunt. Sasuke and Karin had come to the village about one year ago. She had a long gash on her arm and leg, three broken ribs, kunais sticking out of her back, and a punctured wound. It was a miracle that she was still alive and breathing.

"No one's going to come save you." Karin said.

Sakura knew it was true. No one would come. It was still dark and her "friends" wouldn't come either.

_Flashback _

_Sakura skipped happily to Ichiraku's. She had finally memorized all 523 different poisons that Tsunade had assigned. Just as she rounded the corner to Ichiraku's, she heard some talking. It was about her._

"_I'm thinking of dropping Sakura as my apprentice soon." Tsunade said._

_There was a painful stab at Sakura's chest._

"_Really? Why?" Naruto asked._

"_I don't think she's cut out to be a ninja let alone a medical ninja." Tsunade replied._

_Stab._

"_She doesn't have any special qualities other than that ridiculous pink hair and green eyes." Tsunade continued._

"_Don't forget that ridiculous forehead." Ino added._

_Sakura heard her friends nod._

"_Karin would make a good apprentice." Tsunade commented._

"_Thank god I'm not the only one who thinks Sakura has no special qualities other than her hair and eyes." Naruto said. "You should relieve her of her ninja status. I'm getting tired of saving Sakura all the time."_

"_hn. Dobe, don't talk so loudly." Sasuke said._

_Sakura felt hope well up in her chest._

"_Though I doubt she'll hear anything because that big forehead of hers would probably deflect everything." Sasuke continued. "She's still annoying and pathetic."_

_Her hopes shattered like her heart._

"_Sometimes I wish that I could enter her body and kill her." Ino said. "I actually thought about it during the chuunin exams. I went easy on the poor girl, so she wouldn't be permantley scarred."_

_Tears threatened to spill out of Sakura's eyes._

"_She doesn't train either." Kakashi said. "I wonder how she even became a jonin anyways. Probably pure luck."_

_Hot tears cascaded down Sakura's face. Her nails dig into her palms drawing blood. She turned away and ran all the way back home._

_Flashback ends_

Sakura didn't say anything back then. Even if none of that was true. Tsunade's training wasn't difficult. It was easy. But Sakura was afraid of hurting her mentor's feelings if she said that the training was too easy. Sakura didn't need to be saved. She could take care of herself. But she was afraid that she would hurt her best friend's pride if she told him that she didn't need his protection. Sakura wasn't pathetic and weak. She was just trying to be nice to Sasuke because everyone was shunning him. She was nice because she was afraid of losing him again. Sakura knew Ino wasn't going easy on her during the chuunin exams. She was trying her best. But Sakura didn't want Ino to feel bad so she purposely made the battle a tie. Sakura did train. Just not with Kakashi because he was always focused on Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura just didn't want to make her feel bad. And because of those sympathetic feelings, Sakura was now bleeding to death. She could have easily smashed into the ground Karin's face into the ground, especially training so hard with Hinata, Neji, Sai, and Shikamaru. But she didn't. Her "friends" would ask why she did it and who would believe Sakura when she would say that Karin had tried to kill her? No one. Because they always took Karin's side.

"Now, how should I kill you? Torture? Dehydration? Starvation? Hypothermia? Maybe I'll just leave you to bleed to death." Karin laughed. "Yeah… Yeah I'll just let you bleed to death!"

With that, Karin jumped away laughing like a maniac. Sakura painfully sat up against a tree and watched the blood seep through her cuts.

"_I'm tired…" Sakura thought._

"_**Whoa Saku. Don't go to sleep! You won't wake up if you do!" Inner screamed. "And you still need to kick some serious Team 7 and Ino-pig butt!"**_

Sakura mentally locked her inner in a closet and focused on breathing. Her arms lay limp on her sides, too sore to do anything. She noticed her breathing getting shallower and shallower. Sakura tried to keep conscious. Everything was going fuzzy.

_Maybe dying here isn't such a bad idea…_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_Tick...Tick...Tick...Tick..._

Everything hurt. Especially Sakura's chest. Her eyelids felt glued shut. Everything was dark. Sakura slowly opened her eyes. Even that hurt. She blinked a couple times to get rid of the sleep. The first thing she noticed was that she was breathing.

"_I…I'm alive?" Sakura thought._

"_**No shit Sherlock" Inner said.**_

"_Inner?"_

"_**Yep! I saved you from certain death." **_

"_Why"_

"_**Because Saku, if you die, I die. And I don't want to die yet! I mean we haven't had our first kiss yet! And there are tons of smexy beasts around."**_

"_So you didn't save me because you were worried?"_

Inner laughed sheepishly. Sakura mentally rolled her eyes and craned her neck to get a better look around. The room she was in was completely white. Except for some pictures and chairs. She heard the steady beep of the heart monitor.

"_Let's see if I can get up. "_ Sakura thought. _Or at least move…_

Sakura hesitantly moved her arm. A jolt of pain shot up her arm. She bit her lip to prevent herself from gasping in pain. She felt unusually empty and weak. Sakura tensed when she heard footsteps. The door slips open silently. Sakura looked to her side. She saw three people at the door. Two males and one female. The first male had dirty blonde hair and dark brown eyes. The second male hade black hair and red eyes (he is not an Uchiha). And the girl had sandy brown hair, forest green eyes, and a splash of freckles across her face.

"Oh, you're awake!" she exclaimed happily. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I seriously need some Aspirin." Sakura replied. "Where am I? Who are you? How did I get here? How long was I out?"

"Whoa there pinky. Slow down. Kei, Rin, and I found you bleeding to death in the forest while we were on morning patrol. You were out for a week. Kei is the blonde, Rin is the chick, and I'm Itsuki. You're in the Village Hidden in the Sound Hospital." Itsuki explained.

Sakura felt a feeling of dread pool in her stomach. Her breathing came out in short pants. She was in Orochimaru's village. Where he killed and experimented on countless of innocent people. The heart monitor began beating uncontrollably.

"Hey! It's ok! Orochimaru isn't here anymore. He disappeared." Rin said quickly.

Sakura's breathing began to slowly calm down.

"Since we introduced ourselves. Could you tell us who you are?" Kei asked.

"Right. Sakura Haruno. Konoha Jonin and Medical Ninja." Sakura said in a depressed tone.

"Is everything ok? You seemed kind of depressed saying the last part." Rin said.

"I-I'm fine. My-My injuries are just a bit sore." Sakura said.

"You're lying." Rin said. "What happened?"

Sakura didn't know what came over her. Maybe it was because she felt so vulnerable. Maybe it was because Rin, Kei, and Itsuki seemed like such nice people. Or maybe, Sakura just needed a friend. Tears blurred her vision.

"I…I was actually targeted. By a girl named Karin. She came back to Konoha with Sasuke. My former teammate. She…I don't know what I did to make her so upset. She just tried to killing me while we were on a mission. I could have easily taken her down. But I didn't. Because my team wouldn't believe me if I said that Karin had attacked me first." Sakura explained shakily.

Rin wrapped her arms around Sakura's shaking form.

"Everyone…Everyone in Konoha except for four others thought I was weak. My former team and best friend. They…They called me weak. Pathetic. Annoying. But I'm not. My sensei never trained me because he was too focused on Sasuke's Curse Mark and Naruto's potential. He never took the time to train me. My mentor. Tsunade-shi-, Tsunade-sama, said that she was going to relieve me of my ninja status. She didn't think I could handle the life of a ninja. But I could. My friends helped train me. I'm ANBU level. Nut nobody cares. I have nobody now." Sakura cried.

"Shh…Shh… It's ok. Just let it all out." Rin coaxed. "You don't have anybody. You have me, Kei, and Itsuki. You have all of us now."

Twenty minutes later, Sakura stopped crying and dried hear tears.

"Sorry if I burdened you." Sakura said.

"It's fine. You aren't a burden." Kei said. "I think that you're amazing for being able to put up with that shit."

Sakura gave him a small smile.

"Why do I feel so weak by the way? I feel empty." Sakura said.

"We had to seal away your chakra. You were being really destructive when the nurses and doctors were healing you." Itsuki explained.

"Oh. When will it be back." Sakura asked.

"About two weeks."

Sakura frowned.

"Oh. Thanks for taking care of me but I really should be going now." Sakura said.

"Already! You're still recovering!" Kei exclaimed.

"Well I still have to let my friends know I'm ok." Sakura said.

Kei, Itsuki, and Rin frowned.

"Ok. We'll walk you to the gates." Rin said.

AT THE GATES

One thing that Sakura noticed when Kei, Itsuki, and Rin escorted her to the gate was that the village was filled with criminals. Along with other Sound Ninja and civilians. They even seemed to get along great. She had never seen a criminal that happy before.

"Hey, how come this place has a lot of criminals? Sakura asked when they arrived at the gates.

"Well. This place is kind of like a shelter for criminals. They can act like there real selves here and not get judged or attacked. Of course if a criminal harms anyone in any way, he/she will be kicked out. Surprisingly, when the Otokage allowed criminals to stay here. The village was fine with it so yeah." Kei explained.

"Ahh. I see." Sakura said. "Thanks for bringing me to the gates by the way."

"You're welcome. Come back anytime ok. Sakura." Rin said.

"Sure." _If I don't die first…_

Sakura waved goodbye to Rin, Kei, and Itsuki and disappeared into the forest.

TIME SKIP ONE WEEK

Some of Sakura's chakra started coming back making it much easier for her to travel longer distances. Along the way back to Konoha, she picked up a discarded brown cloak. It kept her warm and hidden. It was mid-afternoon when Sakura arrived at Konoha's gates.

"_Here goes everything"._ Sakura thought

"**I suggest we go and kick some Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, Ino, Kakashi, and Tsunade ass!" **Inner thought.

"_Don't forget I have next to no chakra and they would most likely kill me."_ Sakura thought.

Inner shut up and let Sakura walk into Konoha's gates unnoticed. Sakura was surprised when she saw no one at the gates. It was probably Karin and Ino's turn to guard and they probably ditched to go shopping and hook up with some guys. Sakura stared blankly into space. Her hood hid her face and hair well. She let her feet carry her around. Before she knew it, Sakura was at the graveyard.

"_Might as well visit mom and dad's grave." _Sakura thought.

Sakura trudged through the graveyard. As she approached her parent's grave, she saw a new addition. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw what it said.

**Sakura Haruno**

**XXXX-XXXX**

**Killed in Action**

**May she forever rest in peace **

Sakura felt her hands clench into fists. Blood dripped onto the grass. She suddenly heard footsteps and moved as quickly as possible behind a bush. From her hiding spot, Sakura saw five figures. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Ino, and Karin. Kakashi had his typical orange book in his hand.

"Too bad Sakura died." Naruto said.

"Who cares Dobe? She was too clingy." Sasuke said.

"Yeah! I searched hours for her body!" Karin said.

"True. She was way too violent anyways." Naruto commented.

"She was never a good shopping partner." Ino said.

"And she wasn't much of a ninja either." Kakashi said.

Silence…

"Well, we're done here! Let's go get some ramen!" Naruto said happily.

Everyone agreed and left. As soon as they left, the sky darkened and it began to rain. Heavily, Sakura stood up from her hiding spot. Her bright emerald eyes were now lifeless and dull. Everyone thought she was dead. Gone. Nobody searched for her body.

What did she have to live for now?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sakura stumbled through Amegakure. It was drizzling softly making it seem like mist. Sakura's injuries were throbbing. Her arm was bleeding again since she didn't change or clean the bandage earlier. Thoughts swirled around in her head.

"_Ok. That's it. I need to forget about what happened and stay calm." _Sakura thought.

"_**Finally! You're doing something." **_Inner exclaimed. _**"Let's go get drunk and laid!"**_

For once, Sakura agreed with her Inner. Not the getting laid part. She limped to the closest bar and sat beside a large man. A really big man. He had about 3 sake bottles in front of him but he didn't give a single indication that he was drunk. Beside him was another man. He was drinking tea. Sakura shrugged it off and hollered for the bartender.

"Bottle of Sake please." She shouted.

"A-are you sure? Maybe some tea? Or-"

"Just get me Sake." Sakura hissed as she glared at the bartender.

The bartender hurried off to get Sakura her Sake. She sighed and massaged her temples. Sakura reached into her bag and brought out her hitai-ate and a kunai. She brushed her fingers along the smooth metal remembering all her memories. With a flick of her wrist, Sakura made a deep cut through her hitai-ate. She tied it around her neck just as her sake came. She snatched the bottle and drank out of the bottle directly. An hour later, Sakura and had finished drinking three bottles and was totally drunk. The two men beside her didn't do anything.

"That's enough for you pinky." the man said beside her.

Sakura looked at him drunk.

"What are you? *Hic* My dad?" Sakura slurred.

She swore she heard a chuckle from the man. He removed his hat and pulled his cloak down to show Sakura his face. Gravity defying blue hair, blue tinted skin, gills. Sakura looked unimpressed.

"Kisame Hoshigaki." Sakura slurred. "That means *hic* that's Itachi *hic* Uchiha."

Itachi removed his hat and also pulled his cloak lower. Sakura took another sip of her sake before thrown over Kisame's shoulder.

"What *hic* are you doing?" Sakura exclaimed.

"We have orders from Leader-Sama to capture you alive." Itachi said.

"This is kidnapping. Not capturing." Sakura said

"Same thing pinky." Kisame said.

Sakura gave a small pout and pounded weakly on Kisame's back. He just chuckled and threw some money on the table for all the sake.

"Let. Me. Go." Sakura said. "I can walk."

"What? No attempt to escape?" Kisame said.

Sakura glared at his back. Kisame and Itachi jumped into the forest ignoring the rain. Sakura was silent for a couple of minutes before she was going to go crazy.

"I always wondered." Sakura said.

"Wondered what?" Kisame asked.

"About the blonde guy that looks like a Barbie Doll and has the mouth on hands bloodline." Sakura said.

"Deidara? What about him?" Kisame asked getting curious.

"Since he has mouths on his hands. Does he have mouth on his lower regions?" Sakura said.

Silence.

One.

Two.

Three.

Kisame burst out laughing.

"You'll have to ask him that yourself kitten. I'm not looking down there." Kisame laughed.

"What about Sasori?" Sakura said. "Does he have a reproductive organ? Since he's a puppet and all. Does he have different sizes? Can he take it off and clean it? What about your leader. Does he have piercings on his jewels?"

By now, Kisame was cracking up. He almost dropped Sakura four times. Itachi was struggling to keep a smile/smirk off his face.

"I like you kitten." Kisame laughed.

KONOHA

"W-what d-do you m-mean?" Hinata shuttered. "Sa-Sakura ca-can't be d-dead!"

"I'm sorry Hinata, but Sakura's gone." Tsunade said solemnly.

"I highly doubt that Ugly is dead." Sai said also not wanting one of his precious friends to be dead.

"I'm sorry."

"Did you even search for her body?" Shikamaru asked.

"I searched for hours for her body." Karin sniffed. "I couldn't find her body."

"Just how did she die?" Neji asked.

"She wake up early and I followed her curious to where she was going, and then I saw her with the AKATSUKI!" Karin wailed. "She threatened that if I told anyone what I saw, she would kill me. B-but after I left, I heard a scream, so I went back to Sakura and I saw so much blood. It was everywhere."

Hinata was shaking. She was shaking with rage. She never heard a lie that sucked that bad before.

"It's ok Karin-chan! It's not your fault!" Naruto said. "If that bitch threatened to kill you and was working with the Akatsuki, then she deserved to die."

SLAP

The sound echoed around the room. A red mark appeared on Naruto's face. He brought his hand up to his cheek and looked at who slapped him. Hinata was shaking. Tears flowed from her eyes.

"What the hell Hinata." Naruto yelled.

"Shut up! You deserved it! How can you say Sakura-chan deserves to die?" Hinata yelled. "I can't believe you would believe Karin's lie like that! Sakura is alive! I know she is. Karin is just a liar!"

"Neji. Restrain Hinata now." Tsunade ordered.

Neji made no move to stop Hinata.

"What are you waiting for?" Tsunade snapped.

"I'm afraid; I cannot obey your orders Hokage-sama." Neji replied coldly. "I, in fact, agree with everything with Hinata says."

"This is all so troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"Someone who finally understands-" Tsunade said.

"I mean you're all troublesome." Shikamaru said interrupting Tsunade and glaring sharply at Naruto, Karin, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Ino. "It's troublesome to have put up with idiots and liars."

With that, Shikamaru poofed out leaving a stunned Hokage. Sai, Neji, and Hinata followed shortly after Shikamaru, but before Hinata poofed out, Hinata said to Naruto "I renounce any feelings towards you Naruto Uzumaki. I hate you." Hinata poofed out after saying that to Naruto.

BACK TO SAKURA

Sakura was sound asleep on Kisame's shoulder. Itachi had to admit that the pink haired kunoichi was certainly entertaining. After Sakura had fallen asleep, Kisame and Itachi traveled in silence until they reached the Akatsuki base. Itachi and Kisame brought Sakura to Pein's office.

"Leader-sama, we have brought the kunoichi." Itachi said.

"I trust that you had no problem." Pein said.

"Nope. She came willingly." Kisame said. "She slashed her hitai-ate."

"Itachi, bring Sakura to guest room and have Konan bring her some new clothing when she wakes up." Pein said.

"Hai, Leader-sama."

Itachi and Kisame left Pein's office with Sakura in Itachi's arms.

"Well, I'm going to grab something to eat." Kisame said as he was walking towards the kitchen.

Itachi said nothing as he carried Sakura bridal style up two flights of stairs and opened a door three doors down to the left from his room. He set the feather light kunoichi on the bed and tucked her in. She looked so peaceful and so unlike the distraught and lonely ninja she was when she entered the bar. Itachi glanced at Sakura one last time before closing her door.

A COUPLE HOURS LATER

Sakura had no idea where she was when she woke up. She remembered nothing. Her head felt like her head was splitting open. Sakura couldn't not get back to sleep, so she got up and took baby steps towards the door. She cautiously peered out the door. She saw that nobody was in the hall way. She walked silently down the hall and down the two flights of stairs. The place looked friendly enough. No rats, some garbage, nicely lit hallways, and multiple rooms. Sakura followed her sense of hearing to what seemed like the living room. She saw four men on a couch watching TV. A large blue shark looking man, a blonde that looked like Ino, a man with slicked back silver hair, and a red head that looked like Gaara. She identified them as Sharky, Blondie, Old Man, and … Sasori?

"_What the…? I thought I killed him." _Sakura thought.

"_**Oh shut up and enjoy the sight! Be glad a hunk like him is alive.!" Inner shouted.**_

Sasori turned his head and caught a flash of pink. He narrowed his eyes and realized that it was Sakura Haruno. The woman who killed him. She looked extremely awkward standing there not knowing what to do.

"What are you doing here." Sasori said.

Deidara, Hidan, and Kisame turned their attention to Sakura. Her clothes were slightly wrinkled and she had light bed hair. Hidan whistled lowly.

"That is one hot fucking bitch." Hidan yelled. "I'd fuck her."

"Sorry, I'm not interested in old men." Sakura said as she scowled at Hidan.

Deidara and Kisame cracked up while Hidan lunged at Sakura. Being at ANBU level, Sakura still knew how to survive without chakra. She jumped to the side and landed clumsily on her feet. Her injuries were throbbing. She did a back flip to avoid a kunai only to regret her choice. She fell to her knees and coughed up blood. She had forgotten about her still healing punctured wound. Hidan stopped attacking when he saw Sakura coughing up blood.

"What the Fuck." Hidan said.

"I'm *cough cough* good." Sakura said.

"You ok Kitten?" Kisame asked.

"Just peachy." Sakura said as she coughed again.

"What did you do to our guest Hidan." a voice asked.

"I didn't do anything to the bitch. She just started coughing like a pussy." Hidan said.

"Hey Konan, what's wrong with Kitten?" Kisame said.

Sakura coughed one last time before drawing in a shaky breath.

"Nothing is wrong. Just healing." Sakura said. "Where am I? Why am I here?"

"You're in the Akatsuki base. Pein-sama wants you to be our medic." Konan said.

"Medic?" Sakura echoed. "As much as I would love to, I can't."

"Why not?"

"Can I sacrifice the bitch to Jashin-sama?" Hidan asked.

Everyone ignored him.

"We will force you to be are medic, if you do not become our medic willingly." Sasori threatened.

"I mean, that I can't because I have no chakra." Sakura said as she was lifting up her shirt.

She showed them the seal.

"How long is it going to last." Konan said.

"Hmmm… probably for another five more days." Sakura said.

"I see." Konan said thoughtfully. "Would you like a bath?"

"That would be great." Sakura said gratefully.

Sakura with Konan's help got up to her feet.

"Oh Kitten." Kisame said.

"What?" Sakura said.

"Welcome to the Akatsuki." Kisame said.

Sakura smiled and walked out the door with Konan's help.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sakura hissed in pain as she slid into the hot bathtub with Konan's help. Konan picked up the sponge and gently scrubbed away the dirt, sweat, and blood. It was silent.

"If you don't mind me asking. Why did you leave your village?" Konan asked breaking the silence. "You were one of the most loyal ninja to Konoha."

Sakura let out a sigh as she closed her eyes and leaned back.

"I left because I hate Konoha." Sakura whispered. "I hate that stupid good for nothing village. I hate how everyone thinks I'm weak. I hate how no one has faith in me. I hate Ino. I hate Sasuke. I hate Karin. I hate Tsunade. I hate Naruto. I hate Kakashi and I hate myself."

"Why do you hate yourself?" Konan asked feeling slightly curious.

"I hate myself for hating everything about Konoha." Sakura replied while looking at Konan.

Konan was shocked to see the pain and suffering that Sakura had to go through when she was in Konoha. She looked like a kicked puppy.

"My grandfather before he disappeared said that everyone had some good in them." Sakura continued. "I used to believe that 100%, but I'm not so sure anymore. I don't think Ino, Sasuke, Naruto, Karin, Kakashi, and Tsunade have any good in them anymore. And I hate myself for thinking like that. They all did so much for me when I was a Konoha Ninja and now, I want them to suffer."

Sakura hung her head in shame. Hot tears cascaded down her cheeks making the water ripple. Her nails dug painfully into her calves.

"I don't even know what I'm living for anymore. I should have let Hidan kill me." Sakura sniffed.

SLAP

Sakura clutched her cheek looking up at Konan in surprise.

"You can't say such things." she said. "You shouldn't hate yourself for feeling something everyone feels. We'll find something for you worth living for. So don't you say that you should have let that idiot kill you." Konan said as she embraced the broken pink haired kunoichi.

How long had Sakura wanted to hear that it was ok for her to feel such an awful emotion? How long had it been since she received such kind words? How long had it been since she felt such a gentle hug? Sakura shakily brought her arms up and hugged Konan back tightly like her life depended on it.

Twenty minutes later, Konan left the bathroom to let Sakura change. And for some reason, Sakura felt calm, better, and almost happy.

"_I can't believe I feel so relaxed when I'm basically living with a bunch of S-class criminals" _Sakura mused.

"_**A bunch of Hott, Sexy S-class criminals!" Inner said.**_

Sakura mentally glared at her Inner and pulled on a simple V-neck red t-shirt. She exited the washroom and headed to the kitchen or at least she tried to. She was lost. Already! She wandered aimlessly around the Akatsuki base admiring the structure. Who knew S-class criminals had such good taste in interior designing? Not looking where she was going, she bumped into something hard and warm. Stumbling back slightly, she apologized.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." she said.

Looking up, she made eye contact with Itachi Uchiha.

"Hn." Itachi said.

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes. What was it with the Uchihas and that one word syllable?

"What is it with you Uchihas and that one word syllable?" Sakura asked.

"Hn." Itachi replied.

"Is it genetic?" Sakura asked.

"Hn." Itachi said again.

"What does that even mean?" Sakura asked.

"Hn." Itachi said again.

Sakura was getting pissed. She pouted angrily which Itachi somehow found highly amusing.

"If you say 'hn' one more time, I'll rip your balls off and shove them up your ass until you choke." Sakura threatened.

"Aa" Itachi said.

Itachi restrained from letting out a chuckle when he saw Sakura rips out her hair out in frustration. Just as she was about to scream something extremely un-lady like, her stomach growled loudly. All of Sakura's anger quickly disappeared into embarrassment.

"Come" Itachi said.

Not waiting for her to reply, Itachi spun on his heel and started heading for the kitchen. Sakura scrambled to keep up with his long strides. A couple turns later, they arrived in the kitchen. Sakura was practically drooling when she smelled the delicious food. Konan was making an omelet while she was watching the pizza. Kisame, Hidan, and Deidara were sitting at the table waiting impatiently for the pizza.

"Is the fucking pizza done yet bitch?" Hidan yelled.

"Shut up and wait!" Konan yelled.

Sakura slipped into the kitchen quietly sitting beside Kisame.

"Nice of you to join us Kitten." Kisame said with a large grin. "Did you get lost?"

"Yeppers. This place is huge!" Sakura said. "How can you not get lost?"

Kisame shrugged.

"How did you get here if you lost, yeah?" Deidara asked.

"Mr. Lord of all Emos showed me the way." Sakura said glaring at Itachi who was sitting quietly on the opposite side of Sakura.

Hidan laughed at his new nickname.

"What did you make the bitch fuck out of you?" Hidan laughed.

"Hn." Itachi replied.

Sakura face palmed.

"That." Sakura said. "He kept saying 'hn'. And then stopped to say 'aa'."

"How did you get him to do that?" Konan asked.

"She said she would rip off my balls and shove them up my ass until I choke." Itachi said.

Kisame, Hidan, and Deidara burst out laughing.

"It was just like when you were drunk." Kisame laughed.

Sakura cocked her head to the side obviously confused.

"You were talking about some jewels." Kisame said. "You asked if Deidara had mouths below and if Sasori could remove his below and clean it and if Leader-sama had any piercing below too."

Sakura's face flushed a deep red and looked down in embarrassment. Sasori and Pein had just walked in when they heard what Kisame said about their jewels.

"I wasn't thinking properly." Sakura said in defense.

"Pizza is done." Konan said while she saved Sakura from an extremely awkward situation.

To say it was a war to get a slice of pizza was an understatement. Sakura watched in horror as Hidan, Kisame, and Deidara were punching each other just to get a slice of pizza.

"Do they always do this?" Sakura asked Itachi.

"Hn." He replied.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Sakura asked again.

"If you try, you will be killed." Sasori said. "It is best if you eat while they are still fighting."

Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?" Sakura asked.

"Because you are a guest." Sasori replied.

Sakura took a slice of pizza and bit into it. It was the best tasting pizza ever. Or maybe she was so hungry that it could taste like cardboard and she wouldn't notice. Soon, Sakura had eaten half of the pizza.

"What the fuck, bitch." Hidan yelled. "You ate half of the fucking pizza."

"Don't call me a bitch." Sakura yelled back. "It wasn't my fault that you were too busy acting like a bunch of idiots to actually split up the pizza."

"Stupid bitch. I should sacrifice you to Jashin-sama." Hidan sneered.

"I told you not to call me a bitch." Sakura yelled getting pissed.

"Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch." Hidan yelled.

Before anyone could do anything, Sakura leapt across the table and grabbed Hidan's collar and was roughly shaking him.

"You damn Old Man! I told you not to call me a bitch." Sakura yelled.

"Kitten has claws." Kisame whistled.

"Isn't she supposed to be our medic, yeah?" Deidara whispered.

"Damn bitch! You're even fucking hotter when you are angry!" Hidan said as he smirked at Sakura.

Sakura turned red with anger and plopped down on a couch after whacking him on the head. Who knew living with S-class criminals could be so infuriating?

Sakura misses Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sai. Besides Konan, she is the only other girl there. Maybe she will ask Pein tomorrow if she could get Hinata and the others to come to the Akatsuki.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

THE NEXT MORNING

Sakura got up from her bed and pulled on a plain black tank top and some black pants. Sakura walked out of her room and tried to find Pein-sama's office without getting lost. Needless to say, Sakura got lost again. Sakura walked around until she ran into Konan.

"Konan, I need to talk to Pein-sama." Sakura said.

"His office is right down the hall. But I will take you there." Konan said.

"Ok thank you, Konan." Sakura said.

Sakura followed Konan to Pein's office.

Sakura found Pein's office with the help of Konan and knocked on the door and she and Konan walked in after Pein said "ENTER."

"Hello Pein-sama. I need to ask a favor and I know you normally don't do any favors for anybody, but I need one. I have some friends that are in Konoha and I was wondering if they can join as well and if I could let them know I am alive." Sakura said almost crying.

"I could do one favor for you since you are willing to become our medic. Who are these people you want to join with the Akatsuki and let them know you are alive." Pein said.

"Oh thank you Pein-sama. They are Anko Mitarashi Choji and Chouza Akimichi, Asuma Sarutobi, Genma Shiranui, Hinata Hyuga, Ibiki Morino, Inoichi Yamanaka, Izumo Kamizuki, Kiba Inuzuka and his dog partner Akamaru, Konohamaru Sarutobi, Kotetsu Hagane, Kurenai Yuhi (Sarutobi), Neji Hyuga, Rock Lee and Might Guy, Moegi, Sai, Shikamaru and Shukaku Nara, Shino and Shibi Aburame, Shizune, Suigetsu Hozuki, Tenten, Udon, and Yamato. These are all the people who were nice to me and didn't think I was weak." Sakura said.

"I will give them the option of joining the Akatsuki. You may go now." Pein said.

"Thank you Pein-sama." Sakura said in a happy voice.

Sakura and Konan walked out of Pein's office. Konan went another way and Sakura went the opposite way like towards the training area.

Three more days and Sakura got her chakra back. She was leaning against the balcony railing and was watching Deidara and Sasori train. It was oblivious that Sasori had the upper hand but Deidara had more determination.

"_**Whoa there! Look at those ABS and they look delicious enough to lick." **_ Inner said as Deidara and Sasori took off their shirts.

"_Shut up Inner. They're S-class criminals." _Sakura thought.

"_**Hott S-class criminals." **_Inner said.

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes and focused on the match. Oh how she wanted to train too. She couldn't help feeling the ache to stretch her muscles.

"Do you have any dummies to train on?" Sakura asked Itachi.

"Follow me." Itachi said.

Sakura's face lit up as she followed Itachi. Two minutes later, they entered a large training ground. There were plenty of dummies to train on. Itachi stood off in the corner and watched Sakura stretch and take her time getting used to her chakra deprived body. As time went on, she got faster and faster at moving. Itachi was glad that Sakura didn't push herself to hard. If she did, Itachi would be responsible for carrying her back to her room. They went 10 of silence before Sakura couldn't take it anymore.

"How many members are in the Akatsuki?" Sakura asked.

"Ten including Leader-sama and myself." Itachi replied emotionlessly.

"How long have you been part of the Akatsuki?" Sakura asked.

"Seven years." Itachi replied.

"Where are the other Akatsuki members?" Sakura asked.

"Classified information." Itachi replied.

Sakura wanted to smack herself in the forehead. Trying to make a conversation with Itachi was like talking to a rock. She punched the dummy's head. It only made a dent. She growled to herself. This was the seventh time and she only made a dent in the head.

"Sakura." Itachi said smoothly. Sakura jumped when he said her name smoothly. "The reason why you cannot take off the dummy's head is because you do not have anything to motivate you to hit the dummy."

"Motivation." She echoed.

Itachi nodded.

"Think of protecting someone or taking someone's life." Itachi suggested.

"_I…I want to protect Choji, Asuma, Hinata, Izumo, Kiba and Akamaru, Kotetsu, Kurenai, Neji, Lee, Might Guy, Sai, Shikamaru, Shino, Shizune, Suigetsu, Tenten, and Yamato. I want to destroy Tsunade, Ino, Karin, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto." _Sakura thought.

With those thoughts in mind, Sakura brought her fist back and threw a hard punch at the dummy's head. It blew straight off flying a couple of feet away. A smile broke out on her face.

"I did it." Sakura exclaimed. "Thank you Ita-!"

Sakura titled her but he was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly five kunais shot towards her. As if she was programmed, Sakura leapt out of the way and brought out a kunai to block three shuriken.

She landed on her feet and glared at the shadows. Itachi emerged and stared at her emotionlessly.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"Leader-sama has given orders to train you until you have your chakra back." Itachi replied.

"So, we are only doing Taijutsu?" Sakura asked.

Itachi nodded.

"Bring it on." Sakura said as she smirked.

AT KONOHA

Sai masked his face of disgust with a fake smile when he entered Ichiraku's and he saw Karin and Sasuke sucking face.

"This is not a good place to suck face." Sai said breaking up Karin and Sasuke aka Duck Face.

Suigetsu noisily slurped his ramen.

"I've been trying to get them to stop for 15 minutes." He said. "Where's the hott bitch with the pink hair?"

Sai's smile just got faker as the dull ache in his chest got a little heavier.

"Ugly is dead." He replied.

Sai almost flinched and was waiting for Sakura to come out of nowhere and hit him for calling her "Ugly". His chest only got heavier when nothing happened.

"Damn. She was hott too." Suigetsu said. "And she had a bigger chest than you Karin."

Karin let out a frustrated yell and tried to hit him. He dodged laughing and casually left. As soon as his back was to Sasuke, Karin, and Sai, his smile turned dropped into a frown. Sai feels the same way as Suigetsu does.

"_Damn Karin, you really are twisted. Killing my sparing buddy, just so you can be the slut you are and hook up with duck butt." _Suigetsu thought.

WITH HINATA

"Open the door Hinata." Neji said banging on Hinata's door.

"N-No." Hinata yelled. "L-Leave me alone."

Neji sighed. He had tried everything to get Hinata out of her room. Even trying brute force, but she wouldn't budge. Neji sighed again and left, leaving Hinata to cry alone.

WITH SHIKAMARU

Shikamaru sat at Sakura's grave with a shogi board. He moved a piece and then waited the precise amount of time that Sakura would use to make a move. Then he would make another move.

"I win again." He said.

He waited for Sakura to yell that he cheated. But nothing happened. He sighed and brought out a cigarette. He put it in his mouth and lit it.

"Dying is probably the most troublesome thing you have ever done." Shikamaru said as he sighed again.

WITH SAKURA

Sakura let out a sneeze.

"Aw man. I wonder who's talking about me now." Sakura said.

Her chest heaved up and down as she hungrily drank in the air. Training with Itachi was probably one of the most tiring things that Sakura had ever had to do. While Sakura had multiple scratches and bruises and was covered in sweat whereas Itachi had not broken a single drop of sweat and only had a couple of bruises.

"Get cleaned up." Itachi said. "Dinner is in 30 minutes."

He grabbed his Akatsuki cloak and left the training room.

"Stupid arrogant Mr. I have a stick up my ass prick." Sakura mumbled.

"Wow, un. You're not dead yet." Deidara said as he was crouching beside Sakura.

She let out a small 'eep' and scrambled up.

"You-You Akatsuki members must enjoy seeing me terrified popping out of nowhere." Sakura said as she scowled.

"You make it easy, un." Deidara said. "Come on I got orders from Leader-sama to bring you back to your room."

Sakura fell into step behind him and stared at awe at their base.

"This place is amazing." Sakura breathed.

"With Konan as our decorator, this place couldn't look bad, un." Deidara said.

Sakura was silent for a moment.

"I think I misjudged you guys." Sakura said.

"Yeah, un. Many people do that." Deidara replied.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

THE NEXT MORNING

As soon as Sakura woke up, she noticed something was missing. Her injuries. She frantically felt her body, searching for the dull ache of her muscles. Nothing. No blood. No soreness.

"_What's going on? Did someone heal me while I was sleeping?" _Sakura thought.

"_**No you idiot. Your chakra is back. You healed yourself, you dipshit." **_Inner said.

Sakura paid no attention to her Inner's insults. She tried to concentrate her chakra into her hand. The familiar green glow surrounded her hand giving off s quiet humming sound. She shot out of bed and threw off the covers. She didn't expect her chakra to come back so soon. She felt like she could do anything.

"I got it back! My chakra's back!" Sakura yelled happily while running into the kitchen.

Everyone stared back at her. Hidan and Kisame had a perverted grin on their faces. Deidara had a nose bleed. Itachi had no expression on his face but if you look closer, his eyes were wide and he had a small blush on his face. Sakura looked confused until Konan cleared her throat and pointed to her chest. Sakura looked down and immediately covered her chest with her arms. Her see through white V-neck t-shirt had drifted down revealing her lacy black bra. Murmuring some curses, she rushed out of the kitchen to her room and grabbed a hoodie.

"I got my chakra back!" Sakura said once she was more covered up.

"Already, un?" Deidara said recovering from his earlier nosebleed.

"I thought you had another one or two days." Kisame said.

"Me too! But I got it back early." Sakura said.

"Can you heal Deidara now?" Kisame said.

"Heal Deidara? What's wrong with him?" Sakura asked.

Grinning sheepishly, Deidara took off his Akatsuki cloak revealing his stitched arm. Sakura gasped and quickly rushed over.

"Idiot! What did you do?" Sakura asked.

"It may or may not have been blown away during a fight, un." Deidara replied.

Sakura didn't say anything but focused chakra into her hands, she began examining his arm. All the nerves and muscles were connected wrong and the part where is arm was blown off was inflamed and infected.

"Well? How does it look, un." Deidara asked when Sakura was done examining his arms.

Sakura whacked the back of his head.

"The person who reconnected your arm is an idiot. I'm surprised your entire arm hasn't been amputated yet." Sakura said as she scowled.

"Might not want to let Kakuzu hear you." Kisame said.

"Can you fix his arm?" Konan asked.

"Yeah, but it will take a lot of time before he can use his arm again properly." Sakura said. "If possible, I want to start right now while my chakra reserves are full."

"I will notify Pein-sama." Konan said.

A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER

Sakura stood over Deidara's unconscious body. Itachi was only meters away watching Sakura. Gathering chakra into her hands, Sakura gently placed them over the dead part of Deidara's arm. Itachi watched in mild fascination as the once wrinkled dark charred skin slowly became more recognizable. He watched as Sakura tried fixing the dead part to make it look more like Deidara's skin tone. Eventually, Sakura gave up trying to save chakra. She carefully moved her hand on the upper part of Deidara's arm. Itachi saw Deidara twitch slightly when Sakura began healing the infected area.

"Itachi, I need you to help hold him down." Sakura said quietly.

Itachi obeyed and firmly held down Deidara. Sakura's face scrunched up in concentration and began properly reconnecting the nerves. Deidara's body immediately started thrashing around. Itachi's grip tightened. Sweat beaded on Sakura's forehead. She quickly wiped it away before going back to fixing Deidara's arm.

A COUPLE OF HORS LATER

Sakura cut the medical stitches finishing her operation on Deidara's arm. She was slightly disappointed when she couldn't match Deidara's skin tone to the not so dead arm. She slid down to the ground resting her aching body. She felt drained.

"I suggest that you do not try to getting up Haruno-san." Itachi said.

"Sakura. Just Sakura. Haruno-san makes me sound old." Sakura said as she was trying to get up despite Itachi's warning about her aching muscles.

As soon as she was on her feet, she fell back to the ground. Growling in frustration, she tried again only taking a couple of steps before falling again. Itachi quickly made his way over to Sakura and picked her up bridal style. He was surprised at how light she weighed.

"H-hey! P-put me down." Sakura shouted.

She was pretty sure her face was completely red. She had never been carried this way before.

"You are not fit to walk." Itachi said. "Leader-sama requests your presence in two hours."

Sakura shut her mouth after that and let Itachi carry her to her room. Luckily Hidan and Kisame weren't around to make fun of her. Itachi placed her worn out body onto her bed and quickly left the room.

"_**You were just carried by THE Itachi Uchiha. Now I can die happily." **_Inner said.

"_What's so good about being carried by Itachi?" _Sakura thought.

"_**If you haven't noticed, Itachi is sex on legs. A sex god! And I dare say he is way better looking than Naruto and Sasgay combined." **_ Inner said.

"_Sasuke and Naruto put together would not be pretty. Now go away. I want to rest before meeting with Pein-sama." _Sakura said.

TWO HOURS LATER

Itachi walked slightly in front of Sakura. Knocking on Pein's door, Itachi waited for an indication to enter.

"Come in." Pein said.

Itachi and Sakura entered.

"Have you healed Deidara's arm?" Pein asked.

"Yes, but he shouldn't go any missions for a month. Take him to a medical ninja regularly. Or in your case, kidnap one and make him or her keep his mouth shut about you guys." Sakura said.

"I see." Pein said. "As a reward, I will let you leave with an escort."

"Oh, but am I not the Akatsuki's Medic?" Sakura asked confused.

"You are but you can join on your own free will. Now where would you like to go?" Pein asked.

Konoha would be out of the question. Going to Suna would be crazy too. Especially with the truce between Konoha and Suna.

"Otogakure. That way you can enter and leave as you please. As long as you don't cause trouble." Sakura said.

"Very well. Itachi and Kisame will escort you there tomorrow morning at sunrise. I have to write up a joining letter for those you want to come with you back to the Akatsuki." Pein said.

"Oh thank you Pein-sama. That means so much to me." Sakura said.

"You are welcome. You're dismissed." Pein said.

Sakura nodded. Itachi and Sakura left the office and went to the kitchen.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

THE NEXT MORNING

Sakura, Itachi, and Kisame were jumping from tree to tree heading towards Otogakure. Kisame decided to tag along because he had nothing better to do.

"Why are you heading to Otogakure anyways?" Kisame asked.

"Well, going to Konoha would be out of the question, seeing as I'm dead to them and that most of them hate me." Sakura said.

"Why not just go to Suna?" Kisame asked again.

"Suna has a strong alliance with Konoha. They would have brought Sakura back to Konoha." Itachi said.

"And besides with Orochimaru gone, Otogakure is nice now." Sakura said. "The Otokage allows rogue ninja into the village as long as they don't screw anything up, so you guys can come visit anytime."

"So you're going to miss us?" Kisame teased.

"You wished." Sakura said.

The truth is that she actually would miss them, including Hidan. Even if he did try to kill her.

"I actually met three ninjas from there. They were actually nice enough to take care of my injuries." Sakura added.

Not paying any attention to her surroundings, Sakura almost bumped into Itachi's back.

"Why are we stopping?" Sakura asked after she regained some balance.

"Two ninjas are heading this way." Itachi replied. "Kakuzu and Zetsu."

Just as Itachi finished speaking, Zetsu emerged from the ground while Kakuzu stopped on a branch a couple of meters away.

"Why is a Konoha Ninja with you?" Kakuzu asked.

"Leader-sama has ordered Kisame and me to escort Sakura-san to Otogakure." Itachi replied.

"She's a missing ninja too." Kisame added.

"KIA Ninja." Sakura corrected.

"KIA?" Kakuzu asked confused. "You are obviously alive."

"Her village thinks she is dead." Itachi said.

"**She looks delicious." **Black Zetsu said.

Sakura jumped slightly at the sound of his voice. She was so sure that his voice wasn't that low and dangerous. At least that is what the reports said.

"_**Well, the reports are wrong. Shannaro!" **_Inner said.

"We are not allowed to eat her if Leader-sama has ordered Itachi and Kisame to escort her to Otogakure." White Zetsu said.

Now that was the voice that Sakura had heard and read about. She moved closer to Itachi, feeling slightly nervous.

"Let's go." Itachi said sensing Sakura's nervousness.

Sakura and Kisame followed after Itachi.

"You were scared of them." Itachi stated.

"Huh?" Sakura asked confused.

"Zetsu and Kakuzu."

"I'm not really scared of them. Just a bit weary of them." Sakura said. "I don't really know anything about them and from what I've heard, they're really dangerous."

"They are and so are Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Konan, Pein, and me." Itachi said.

"Yeah, but I actually spent time with you guys, so I know you won't hurt me on purpose." Sakura said. "Except Hidan. He would probably hurt me on purpose. But not too badly."

"Yeah that is true." Kisame said.

TIMESKIP: NIGHT TIME

"I'll set up camp." Sakura said.

"I'll get the firewood." Kisame said while heading into the forest with Samehada.

"Why did you join the Akatsuki?" Sakura asked."

"Hn." Itachi replied.

Sakura sighed. What was she thinking trying to start a conversation with Itachi.

"Why did you leave your village?" Itachi asked. "Konan would not say."

Sakura was silent for a moment.

"It wasn't like I chose to leave." Sakura started. "But I probably would have if I didn't get that mission."

Itachi waited for her to go on in more detail. He had no idea why he was so interested in her life.

"I was given a B-rank mission with Naruto, Karin, and Sas-gay. On our way back, Karin decided that she wanted to get rid of me. I just let her because a couple of days before the mission, I heard Naruto, Sas-gay, Tsunade, Ino, Karin, and Kakashi talking about me. Saying I was weak, I was getting nowhere and I was getting my ninja status stripped away from me." Sakura said, her lower lip trembling. "Luckily, where Karin left me, was near Otogakure. Three ninjas, Rin, Kei, and Itsuki, helped me. They're the reason I'm alive right."

"I'm back." Kisame said.

Sakura got up and went over to help Kisame.

"We should reach Otogakure tomorrow afternoon." Itachi said. "I suggest you get some sleep kunoichi."

"_What's with him? One minute it's Sakura-san and the next it's Kunoichi." _Sakura thought.

"_**Don't worry Saku! It's nothing personal. Guys need to PMS too!" **_Inner said.

Sakura couldn't help but let a small smile slip.

"Yeah. Goodnight Kisame. Goodnight Itachi. Wake me when it's my turn to take watch." Sakura said.

"Goodnight Kitten." Kisame said.

"Goodnight." Itachi said.

Sakura climbed into her sleeping bag while Kisame settled comfortably against a tree and Itachi sat up in a tree, blending in with the shadows keeping watch.

THE NEXT DAY

"I can see the village!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Are you that eager to leave us?" Kisame teased.

"What? It's not like that. I've never been to Otogakure except when I was injured and I kind of want to explore." Sakura said. "And it's not like we'll never see each other again. You can come here anytime."

Kisame just chuckled.

Itachi and Kisame walked Sakura to the front gate.

"So I guess I'll see you guys later?" Sakura said.

"Yep." Kisame said. "Take care of yourself Kitten. Don't get hurt again."

"I'll try not to." Sakura laughed while she hugged Kisame.

She turned to Itachi.

"Thank you for taking care of me for most of the time I was at the Akatsuki base. And thank you for helping me with training." Sakura said to Itachi.

"Hn." Itachi said.

Sakura walked up to Itachi and tip toed up. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and ran into the village. She looked behind her and waved goodbye. As soon as she was out of sight, Itachi blinked.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

Three too many times.

"Wait till I tell everyone about this!" Kisame laughed.

If looks could kill, Kisame would be air.

Sakura was walking along the streets of Otogakure taking in the scenes. It was just like Konoha, except better. In a way. Getting closer north, she saw a large white building.

"_That must be the Otokage's tower." _ Sakura thought. _"Maybe I'll stop by and tell him or her that I want to be a part of this village." _


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Sakura!" a voice called out.

Sakura spun on her heel at the call of her name. Her eyes scanned the crowd and saw a girl around her age with sandy brown hair, dark forest green eyes and freckles.

"Rin?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

"You remember me!" Rin exclaimed. "And your back! Where have you been? How are your injuries? What are you doing back here? Kei and Itsuki will be so surprised."

"Calm down Rin." Sakura laughed. "One question at a time."

"Rin." a voice called out. "Don't go running to random people."

Sakura looked over Rin's shoulder and saw two males running towards them. One had dirty blonde hair, dark eyes and the other one had black hair and red eyes. Kei and Itsuki.

"Is that Sakura?" Kei asked.

"Yeah. That's why I ran off." Rin said enthusiastically.

"It's nice to see you again Sakura." Itsuki said.

"You too." Sakura said.

"Where are you heading?" Rin asked.

"Just to the Otokage's office." Sakura replied.

"We'll come with you." Kei said. "You'll get lost without anyone to guide you."

Sakura gave him a small smile and followed them to the Otokage's office.

"Where have you been for the past almost week?" Rin asked.

"Here, there, Amegakure." Sakura replied.

"Why Amegakure?" Itsuki asked.

"Long story short, I was brought to the Akatsuki base, stayed there for a couple of days until I got my chakra back, helped one of their members, they let me go, and here I am now." Sakura said.

"The Akatsuki let you live?" Rin shouted.

"SHHH!" everyone shouted.

Rin covered her mouth with her hand.

"Were they as hot as the pictures showed?" Rin asked.

"Rin! Don't ask that. They're S-class criminals." Sakura exclaimed.

"Hott S-class criminals. I'd let them kidnap me any day." Rin exclaimed.

Sakura rolled her eyes. Rin was just like another Inner Sakura. Except real.

"_**Hey, I'm real." **_Inner protested.

"_Where have you been?" _Sakura thought.

"_**Here, there, IN YOUR HEAD." **_Inner replied.

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes and focused back on the conversation.

"So your basically friends with them?" Kei asked.

"Let's see, Kisame: yes, Deidara: possibly, Sasori: kind of hard to be friends with someone you killed once, Konan: yes, Hidan: no way in hell, Kakuzu: I barely met him, Zetsu: same thing, Leader-sama: he is very intimidating, Tobi: I haven't seen him yet, and Itachi: hmm… he's probably just my baby sitter." Sakura listed.

"Is this Konan chick hott?" Kei asked.

"If she heard you, you would be dying right now. And Leader-sama would probably torture you forever." Sakura replied.

Kei visibly gulped nervously.

"Here we are." Itsuki said.

Sakura looked up at the building that was blocking the sun with her hand. It was HUGE. Even if it didn't have a big stone mountain with the Otokage's faces. But then again, who would want to see Orochimaru's pedo face every day.

"Let's go. You'll love the Otokage." Rin said. "He's the nicest old man ever. He doesn't even mind when we call him Ojii-san."

"Really? How long has he been ruling?" Sakura asked.

"Around three years." Rin replied.

That was around the time of the Chuunin exams.

"Aa." Sakura said.

Rin, Sakura, Kei, and Itsuki went up six flights of stairs, multiple turns, and multiple doors. Everyone seemed to know them.

"How does everyone know you guys?" Sakura asked.

"We're the Otokage's most trusted shinobi! We're ANBU team 1." Rin said with a large grin.

"That means we're the best there is." Itsuki said.

"Teams here are organized by how good you are. Of course, everyone is good. Some shinobi need a little more training. For example, if you're on team 1, like us, that means we're at the top. If you're on team 10, then you are not as good as the people in the higher teams." Kei explained.

Sakura nodded understanding the concept.

"Here's the Otokage's office." Rin said.

Sakura lifted her head and looked at the door. It was a nice oak color and smooth, like nothing harmful had ever touched it. Her eyes strayed to her right and saw little wood planks. They were labeled, 'Previous Otokage's' and 'Current Otokage.' Under the previous Otokage wooden planks, it said Orochimaru. Only under the current Otokage wooden plank it said, 'Daichi Haruno'.

Sakura did a double take. Daichi was the name of her grandpa.

"You ok Saku?" Rin asked.

"Th-the sign does say Daichi Haruno, right? Am I seeing things right?" Sakura said.

"Yeah, it says Daichi Haruno. That's our Otokage." Itsuki said. "Something wrong?"

"KAI." Sakura said.

Nothing happened. The wooden plank still said Daichi Haruno. Sakura leaned forward and carefully examined the piece of wood. She carefully poked the wood.

"Something wrong?" Kei asked.

"No." Sakura replied. "It's just that my name is Sakura Haruno, and your Otokage's name Daichi Haruno. Daichi Haruno is the name of my grandpa."

AT THE AKATSUKI BASE

"Did you successfully escort her to Otogakure?" Pein asked.

"Hai, Leader-sama." Itachi replied.

"Kitten gave Itachi a big kiss goodbye." Kisame snickered.

Itachi sent Kisame a death glare at Kisame.

"Hey! You're not allowed to kiss Sakura, yeah." Deidara shouted.

"Do not be foolish. I did not kiss her." Itachi said.

Deidara's face turned red with anger. Hidan was howling with laughter.

"Why are you so fucking overprotective of that pink haired bitch?" Hidan asked.

"She's my medic, yeah." Deidara said. "Dickhead."

"What'd you fucking call me you fucking spineless he-she?" Hidan yelled.

"Sadistic bastard?" Deidara yelled back.

"Thank fucking you." Hidan yelled.

"Enough." Pein said as his voice echoed around the meeting room. "Take this somewhere else. Dismissed."

One by one each Akatsuki member exited the dark room. Konan sighed.

"I wonder how they're even part of this organization." Konan muttered.

"They are here because of their fighting abilities." Pein said.

Silence.

"I miss having another girl around the base already." Konan sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Grandpa!" Rin exclaimed.

"Are you sure OUR Otokage is your Ojii-san?" Kei asked.

"I won't be sure until I see him." Sakura said.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Placing her hand on the sudden slightly intimidating door, she pushed it open.

"Rin, Itsuki, and Kei? Do you need anything?" a man asked with graying red/pink hair.

"Well we were just wondering…" Rin started off by asking.

"… if you possibly…" Itsuki continued.

"… have a granddaughter?" Kei said as he finished.

"I do as a matter of fact. Her name is Sakura Haruno." Daichi replied. "She has bright pink hair, vivid green eyes, and a happy child face. Impossible to miss. Why do you ask?"

"I-I'm right here Ojii-san." Sakura said feeling slightly nervous peeking out from behind the door.

Her eyes were cast downwards avoiding her grandpa's hard stare. He rushed out of his seat scattering some paperwork and rushed over to her.

"Look up child. Let your old man see how much you've grown." He said.

Sakura's bright jade eyes met Daichi's wise dark green eyes. _"She has grown into a fine young lady." _Daichi thought.

"Are you here on a mission?" Daichi asked.

"Can't be on a mission if you don't have a village to return to." Sakura murmured.

Daichi gave her a confused stare. Sakura pointed to her neck where her scratched Konoha headband hung.

"We have things to catch up on." Daichi said. "Sit down. All of you."

ONE HOUR LATER

"So you were basically almost killed by a rabid fan girl, Rin, Itsuki, and Kei found you, healed and took care of you, you got kidnapped by the Akatsuki, became their medic, healed this Deidara person and you came back here?" Daichi summarized.

Sakura nodded. Of course she left out the part where she kissed Itachi on the cheek and that she drank underage.

"And now you want to join my village." Daichi finished.

Sakura nodded again. There was tense silence and Sakura was afraid that her grandpa wouldn't let her join his village.

"Ok." He said.

Sakura's head shot up.

"Ok?" she echoed.

"I, Daichi Haruno Otokage of Otogakure, allow my granddaughter Sakura Haruno to become a ninja of Otogakure." Daichi said.

A large smile threatened to consume Sakura's face.

"Kei will test your abilities." Daichi said. "Let's go outside."

Sakura followed Rin, Itsuki, Kei, and Daichi outside to a large training field behind the Otokage's building.

"_This is a nice training ground." _Sakura thought.

"_**Too bad we'll have to ruin it." **_Inner smirked.

Sakura smiled and pulled on her old worn leather gloves. She joined Kei on the training field.

"Ready, Set, Fight!" Rin shouted.

"Come on princess, I'll let you have the first hit." Kei teased.

"Gladly." Sakura smirked while running towards him.

"_Predictable." _Everyone thought.

Kei crouched down into a defensive position. Just as Kei was sure that Sakura was going to launch a punch at his arms, she aimed downwards.

"SHANNARO!" Sakura yelled shattering the ground to a million of spiky rocks. Sakura's smirk widened at the shocked faces of everyone. Kei quickly jumped back narrowly avoiding a kick from Sakura which knocked down a large tree.

"It would suck to get hit with that." Itsuki murmured.

Sakura chased after Kei, trying to punch him, leaving more craters in the ground. She formed quick hand signs.

"Water Style: Suiryuuden no Jutsu!" Sakura yelled.

A large water dragon erupted from the ground, harshly crashing into Kei. Sakura approached the tree that Kei had gotten slammed into. But she saw nothing but splinters. She only had a second to react before Kei attacked her from above with a katana. Sakura quickly pulled out a kunai and blocked the sharp object from cutting her into little neat pieces. She smirked. Now this was one of the best fights she had been in.

ONE HOUR LATER

Sakura panted heavily as she held a dagger above Kei's neck.

"Give up?" Sakura asked.

Kei gulped and nodded carefully so he wouldn't get cut by Sakura's dagger. She got off of him and unsealed his main chakra pathways. She was so glad that she had Neji and Hinata taught her that. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. Rin began applauding happily.

"You're so strong! You beat Kei!" she exclaimed.

"Kei is an ANBU member and you beat him." Itsuki said. "Aren't you a Jonin though?"

"Yeah, when I was still in Konoha, I was going to apply for ANBU before the whole Karin thing happened. I had some of my better friends help me sin Tsunade-shi, Tsunade-sama didn't." Sakura replied.

"You were trained by the slug princess?" Kei exclaimed. "You're punches could have killed me."

Everyone laughed.

"Sakura, I will give you your ranking tomorrow. Come to my office at noon." Daichi said.

"Hai Ojii-san." Sakura said.

"Until you can find an apartment you can live in, I'm sure Rin wouldn't mind sharing a room." Daichi said.

"YAY! Sakura-chan is going to stay with me!" Rin cheered. "Let's go! We can talk more about girl stuff at my place!"

Rin dragged Sakura to her place. It wasn't too big but it wasn't small either. A nice cozy coffee brown walled house. Everything was simple and plain until Rin's room. Sakura's jaw almost dropped. Rin had a queen sized bed with hot pink bed sheets and a whole bunch of clothing lying on top. Her walls were stripped purple and yellow. Sakura couldn't even tell what color the dresser was because of all the nail polish and makeup covering it. An electric blue carpet lay in the middle of the room. Sakura was absolutely speechless.

"Like it?" Rin asked.

"This place is CRAZY!" Sakura exclaimed.

"My bed is large enough for the both of us. You go take a shower first." Rin said.

"Wait! What about PJ's?" Sakura asked.

Rin opened her closet making a small pile of clothing tumble out. She entered the closet and dug around a little. She handed Sakura a loose tank top and basketball shorts.

"Thanks." Sakura said closing the bathroom door behind her.

20 MINUTES LATER

Sakura sat on Rin's bed with a towel around her neck. Rin just enter the bathroom to take a shower. Sakura grabbed her bag and began unpacking her medical supply and some clothing. It didn't take long. She quickly felt her bag to make sure that she wasn't forgetting anything in her dirty bag. Her hand brushed a small bump in her bag. Feeling curious, she opened the small pouch. Her hand closed around a small metal object. As soon as she pulled it out, a small projection shot out.

AT THE AKATSUKI BASE

"Looks like Kitten has the found the ring." Kisame grinned.

"Eh?" Sakura said. "You guys slipped the ring into my bag?"

"Yep!" Kisame replied.

"That way we contact you whenever." Konan added.

"As long as you're wearing the ring, yeah." Deidara asked.

"So since I have the ring…" Sakura started.

"You're an official Akatsuki member." Sasori finished.

"Leader-sama will give you your cloak and hat when you come here next time." Kisame said.

"Or Deidara will do it when he comes to Otogakure to get his arm checked." Konan said.

"Oh yeah. How is your arm doing?" Sakura asked Deidara.

"They don't hurt anymore, yeah." Deidara said. "They feel fine, un."

"Good, remember no strenuous activities for a month." Sakura said.

"What are you, his fucking mother?" Hidan snickered.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at Hidan.

"Sounds like your friend is done showering, so we'll talk to you later Kitten." Kisame said.

"Ok, Goodnight guys." Sakura said.

"By the way, next time you're going to kiss Itachi goodbye, do it on the lips." Kisame snickered.

The last thing he heard from Sakura was a stream of very colorful vocabulary.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"YOU STUPID FISH STICK, UN!" Deidara yelled. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LOST THE MAP!"

"Shut up." Kisame shouted. "Calm your tits, no biggie."

Itachi felt another headache coming on. It was only supposed to take a day and a half to get to Otogakure, but with Deidara and Kisame constantly complaining and fighting, it took forever. This was already the fourth argument they've gotten into.

"Kisame, Deidara, you're voices are giving me a headache." Itachi stated. "Please be quiet."

Kisame and Deidara gulped. Whenever Itachi used his irritated voice, shit was about to go down.

"Kisame, we have escorted Sakura-san to Otogakure one week ago." Itachi said.

"Well, about that I forgot how to get there." Kisame said sheepishly.

Itachi resisted the urge to face palm. How did he even get assigned to this mission?

"Well we should go." Kisame said changing the subject. "Kitten still needs to check out Barbie's arm."

"Shut up tuna can, un." Deidara yelled.

OTOGAKURE

Sakura let out a small sneeze as she walked to Daichi's office.

"Looks like someone is talking about you." Rin said.

Sakura hummed in acknowledgement. She felt nervous. Today was the day her grandfather decided what rank she would be and what team she was placed in. what if she wasn't good enough for Chuunin. That would be embarrassing. A sixteen year old girl trained by one of the Legendary Sannin as a Genin? Sakura took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. She wasn't this nervous since the Chuunin exams. She picked imaginary lint off her maroon red shirt and followed Rin to Daichi's office. She knocked on the door. A muffled 'come in' was heard. Sakura and Rin entered the office and bowed down respectfully.

"Sakura Haruno." Daichi said.

Sakura lifted her in acknowledgement.

"Yes Otokage-sama?" she said.

"Yesterday you demonstrated great skill while sparring with Kei. And I expected no less from Tsunade's ex-apprentice." Daichi said.

"Thank you very much Otokage-sama." Sakura said.

"You even defeated Kei. One of Otogakure's best. Even if he was not going all out. You demonstrated high intelligence, great chakra control, and excellent medical skills." Daichi continued.

Sakura felt her heart swell with pride. Her grandfather had praised her plenty of times when she was younger but never so proudly.

"_**I told you training with Neji and Hinata would help in the future. And I also told you playing Shogi with Shika was also a good idea." **_Inner said.

"_Inner?" _ Sakura said. _"I thought you were dead."_

"_**Ouch. That hurts Saku." **_Inner said with false hurt. _**"I would never die unless you do. Plus you need someone to be your brains."**_

Sakura mentally rolled her eyes at Inner's smugness.

"Sakura Haruno, do you except the roll of being a ninja of Otogakure and follow the laws?" Daichi asked.

"Yes Otokage-sama." Sakura said with excitement in her voice.

"Then I, Daichi Haruno Otokage of Otogakure, present Sakura Haruno with the Otogakure headband as well as being the medic of Team 1." Daichi said.

Sakura squealed with happiness and engulfed her grandfather in a bear hug. Kei and Itsuki got up from behind the desk and shot confetti into the air.

"Congratulations Sakura-chan!" Rin exclaimed hugging Sakura as soon as she let go of her grandpa.

"Come on! Let's go celebrate! I know this great bar a couple blocks from here." Kei said. "You coming Ojii-san?"

"I have to finish this damn paperwork." Daichi grumbled.

Everyone laughed.

"Ok, we'll see you later then." Rin said.

Sakura smiled at her grandpa and waved before letting her new team lead her into town.

WITH KISAME, ITACHI, and BARBIE AKA DEIDARA

"Wow, Kitten wasn't kidding when she said that no one minded criminals here." Kisame said.

"This place is bigger too, un." Deidara said. "It's going to be impossible to find Sakura now, yeah."

"Well, we tried." Kisame said. "Let's go get some sake!"

"I'm with you on that one, un." Deidara said.

"Kisame, Deidara." Itachi warned. "Do not forget why we we're here."

"Just drink a little won't hurt." Deidara added.

Itachi glared at his partners. By 'little drink' it always meant spending hours at the bar, wasting all their money and then going back to the base and have Kakuzu try and rip your guts out till morning. Just as Itachi opened his mouth to say 'no', his partners were already heading to the bar.

"Hurry up Ms. Uchiha." Kisame shouted.

Itachi growled in his throat and followed his partners into the bar.

WITH SAKURA

"Whhhhooooaaaa." Kei breathed. "You really can hold your alcohol."

"It helps that your ex-mentor was a huge drinker and a gambler." Sakura said. "Luckily for me, I didn't inherit her gambling addiction."

Everyone laughed.

"Hey, where's Rin?" Sakura asked.

"We don't know." Itsuki and Kei said.

They sat up in their seats and quickly scanned the room.

"She's at the bar flirting with some guys." Itsuki said. "And she is drunk. She is making a total fool of herself."

"I'll go get her." Sakura said.

She slid off her chair and began to make her way across the bar. The Sake bottle she was drinking is still in her hand.

"_Oh man. Who knew Rin was such a light weight." _Sakura thought. _"Just like Hinata."_

Her heart felt heavy all of a sudden. She just left all those who liked her and helped her out back in Konoha. They probably think she is dead. What kind of friend was she?

"_No! Bad thoughts! Stop it Saku!" _Sakura thought. _"I already started a new life here. Found my grandfather, joined the Akatsuki, and in the best ANBU squad there , happy thoughts."_

Her thoughts were halted when a drunken female giggle. Rin's cheeks were flushed red and she was advancing on some unfortunate- or very fortunate man.

"Rin!" Sakura called out. "What are you doing?"

"Hey *hic* Saku! Come join *hic* me! Rin exclaimed drunkly.

"Alright, that's enough alcohol for you. Come on." Sakura said as she was slowly pulling Rin away.

Rin just made a noise of protest.

"I'm very sorry about my friend…" Sakura said trailing off. "Itachi?"

"Hn. Control your friend the next time." Itachi grunted.

"I-I'm so sorry." Sakura stuttered. "Wait. Why are you here? Miss me already?"

Itachi chose to ignore the last question. Even though he did miss her secretly but he wasn't going to tell her.

"Leader-sama sent Kisame, Deidara, and me to see you. Deidara needs a checkup." Itachi said.

"Oh already." Sakura said.

Itachi nodded.

"Ok. One second. I need to let my team know." Sakura said quickly scampering off.

Itachi watched her bump into her teammates and explain the situation. Her drunken friend who she had called 'Rin' unintelligibly said something. Sakura's face turned red. She quickly glanced at Itachi and turned even redder. She quickly averted her eyes and gave Rin to a blonde man. She waved goodbye and hurried back to Itachi. He raised an eyebrow at her flushed cheeks.

Sakura shrugged it off and said "Let's go."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sakura jogged to keep up with Itachi's long strides.

"Slow down. What's the rush?" Sakura asked.

As she expected, Itachi didn't respond.

"You know that no one will care if criminals are here. No one will tell." Sakura said.

Itachi still didn't say anything.

"Will you at least say or grunt your famous syllable word so that I know you are listening to what I say?" Sakura asked.

"You are annoying." Itachi said.

Sakura stopped walking for a second. Did he just call her annoying? How dare he? Just like his brother. Sakura crossed her arms under her armpits resisting the urge to punch him. Punching him would be bad.

"_**Very bad! We don't want to ruin that perfect face." **_Inner said.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her Inner's comment. Sakura followed Itachi into the bar, where she saw Kisame and Deidara arguing about something.

"Hey Sharky, Barbie." Sakura called out.

They stopped arguing and waved Sakura and Itachi over.

"Good to see your still alive, un." Deidara said.

"Thank." Sakura said. "How are you guys?"

"Good. Doing the usual maiming, killing, and arguing." Kisame said jokingly. "So what about you?"

"Same old, same old. Got put on the top ANBU team, went out to drink and found out my Ojii-san is the Otokage." Sakura replied.

Kisame and Deidara choked on their spit.

"You're the granddaughter of the Otokage?" They shouted.

"Yep. Better behave yourselves." Sakura said. "So, where's my cloak?"

Kisame pulled Sakura's cloak from his and handed it to her. It was still warm from being so close to Kisame's body.

"Itachi says that we have a mission. What's the mission?" Sakura asked.

"It's actually more of a test. We're just watching you while you're infiltrating Konoha and do whatever you want for a day." Kisame explained. "Leader-sama also wants you to check up on Deidara's arm."

Deidara took off his cloak and held his arm out for examination.

"The mission will be tomorrow at sunrise, un. It'll take about a day for us to get to Konoha with minimal breaks, then at noon the day after tomorrow to sundown you will be in Konoha, un." Deidara finished.

Sakura hummed in acknowledgement and checked the nerves in his arms. The faint buzzing of her medical chakra was audible as Deidara waited patiently for her to finish.

"Just take it easy for the next two weeks and your arm will be as good as new." Sakura said.

"Thanks, un." Deidara said pulling on his cloak again.

"You're welcome, Barbie." Sakura said.

"DON'T CALL ME BARBIE, UN!" Deidara yelled.

Kisame started laughing and Itachi had a small smirk on his face.

THE NEXT DAY

Sakura pulled herself out of bed and slowly got dressed. She pulled out a small backpack and packed civilian clothing, money, and some snacks. She locked her door and inhaled the cold autumn air. She jumped from roof top to roof top until she reached her grandpa's window.

"Are you here Ojii-san?" Sakura asked.

"Do you need anything Sakura?" Daichi asked from his desk.

"No, I just wanted to let you know that I'm off on a mission and I should be back within three days." Sakura replied.

"Mission? I don't remember assigning any?" Daichi asked clearly confused.

"I know. It's from the Akatsuki. Leader-sama is testing my loyalty to him." Sakura said.

"Akatsuki? You never mentioned anything about being a part of them." Daichi said shocked.

"I know. I kind of officially became a part of them yesterday. I have my cloak and a ring." Sakura said.

Daichi was silent.

"Just be careful Sakura. And come back soon." Daichi sighed.

"Of course Ojii-san. " Sakura said. "I'll see you soon."

AT THE GATES

Sakura met Itachi, Kisame, and Deidara at the Northern Gates.

"Let's go." Sakura said.

Four blobs of black disappeared into the forest.

"_Mission #1: finish the mission given by Leader-sama. Mission #2: Have a conversation with Itachi." _Sakura thought.

"I feel bad for Konan." Sakura said.

"Why?" Kisame asked.

"She has to put up with a religious immortal who loves inflicting pain on himself, a stitched up man who is obsessed with money, a creepy puppet boy that I killed before, a cannibal, a pierced control freak, a childish man who is obsessed with sugar, a shark man and a Barbie who are constantly arguing and an unsociable Uchiha." Sakura said. "How is she not crazy?"

"She kills Hidan a couple times a day and locks herself in her room, wishing there was another female in the Akatsuki." Kisame chuckled.

"That was an accurate description of the Akatsuki, un. Except when you called me Barbie again." Deidara said.

"I am not unsociable." Itachi said.

"Pretty unsociable to me. You don't even like anything." Sakura said.

"I like Dango." Itachi said.

Sakura slipped on her butt and landed on her butt on another branch.

"Dango?" Sakura questioned. "As in that really sweet treat everyone eats with tea or a festival?" Sakura asked.

"Yep." Kisame answered. "Never stand in between this Uchiha and his Dango."

"I'll keep that in mind." Sakura said with a smile. "Let's go."

NIGHT TIME

"_What I learned about the Akatsuki so far: Kisame loves Finding Nemo, Deidara love talking about his art and eating, Hidan is crazy sadistic bastard, Kakuzu loves his money and will take your heart if you take a penny from him, Pein is a control freak who most likely has a soft spot for Konan, Konan is girly girl on the inside, Tobi loves candy, Zetsu has a secret garden and is a cannibal, and Itachi loves Dango." _ Sakura thought.

"I'll take first watch." Sakura volunteered.

"We were about to flip a coin but ok." Kisame shrugged.

Sakura just smiled.

"Just go to sleep." Sakura said.

Deidara and Kisame didn't need to be told twice.

"You should get some sleep too." Sakura said to Itachi.

"Hn." Itachi replied not showing any sign of going to sleep.

"I'm not going to kill you if that's what you think." Sakura said.

"Aa." Itachi said still not going to sleep.

Sakura jumped over to the tree Itachi was sitting against and plopped down beside him. Sakura grabbed his head and harshly put it down on her lap. He instantly stiffened up.

"Relax." Sakura coaxed. "Get some sleep."

The tension in Itachi's body left him as he felt Sakura run her fingers through his hair. He deactivated his Sharingan and slowly closed his eyes as he let Sakura's humming lull him to sleep. And for the first time in years, Itachi didn't have any nightmares about his clan's massacre.

**AN: Sorry I haven't been putting on any Disclaimer's for Otokage; I will do it on the last original chapter. I will however keep updating whenever I can. Please no flames. The couples are: Sakura and Itachi, Tenten and Neji, Hinata and? I will put up a poll to see which character from Otokage will date Hinata. Please review.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Should we wake them up?" Kisame asked.

Deidara didn't reply. Both unusually quiet Akatsuki members stared at the sight in front of them. Itachi, during the night, had clung tightly to Sakura. He had his arms around her waist and his head into her stomach, while Sakura had her fingers loosely tangled in Itachi's loose silky black hair.

"Wasn't Pinky supposed to keep watch, un?" Deidara asked.

Kisame nodded mutely. After all the years of working with Itachi, Kisame had never seen Itachi lower his guard for anything. Not even to sleep.

"So, should we wake them, un?" Deidara asked.

"No." Kisame replied with a shake of his head. "We got another couple of hours to spare."

"You're getting soft, un." Deidara said.

"Shut up Barbie." Kisame said.

"What'd you call me, Tuna Can?" Deidara growled.

While Deidara and Kisame launched into one of their infamous verbal fights, Itachi's black pearl eyes softly fluttered open. The first thing he noticed was the smell. The faint smell of cherry blossoms and strawberries. Next, was the delicate fingers threaded into his hair. A comforting motherly touch.

"_Okaa-san." _Itachi thought softly closing his eyes again and burying his head closer to who he thought was his mother.

"Gender challenging woman." Kisame yelled.

"Over grown fish!" Deidara yelled back to Kisame.

The voices of his teammates made his eyes open again. This time realizing that he was not a child, and that his mother is no longer of the world he is in. his eyes slowly came into focus. Or, as focused as possible. A thin breathing red lump shifted, confirming Itachi's worst nightmare. When he fell asleep, he dreamed of the night he murdered his clan. The nightmares reminded Itachi of his sin. Itachi quietly detangled himself from Sakura and picked up his dark red hair tie from the ground and tied his hair up in his signature ponytail.

"Kisame, Deidara, get ready. We are leaving in 10 minutes." Itachi said.

Kisame and Deidara stopped yelling at each other and stared at Itachi.

"What were you doing sleeping with the kunoichi?" Kisame asked slyly.

"Hn." Itachi said.

"Wakey, wakey Pinky, un." Deidara said.

Sakura groaned and softly slapped his hand away.

"Five more hours…" Sakura mumbled.

"Do you want to be left behind and never become a member of the Akatsuki, un?" Deidara asked.

Sakura bolted up looking disoriented.

"I'm up, I'm up." Sakura said groggily.

"Pack your things Sakura-san. We will be leaving in five minutes." Itachi said.

A COUPLES HOURS LATER

"See you soon Kitten." Kisame said.

Sakura nodded.

"As soon as I'm finished with this mission, you better treat me to sushi." Sakura said.

"Fish are friends, not food." Kisame said.

Sakura laughed a little.

"Got your things and fake I.D.,un?" Deidara asked.

"Yep, Bye Sharky, Barbie, and Itachi." Sakura said quickly performing a henge Jutsu.

"Not going to kiss him goodbye again?" Kisame teased.

Sakura turned red and flipped him off quickly running towards Konoha's gates. Sakura's heart pounded loudly in her chest as she approached the gates. She straightened her clothing and brown hair. She looked into a puddle making sure her eyes were brown as well. Dark brown hair that went a little past the shoulders and brown eyes were most genetic. A perfect henge choice. Sakura took a deep breath and approached the gates. Thank Kami that Izumo and Kotetsu weren't guarding.

"Halt! State your name, status and business and show us you're I.D." one of the guards demanded.

"Last name, Sasaki, given name, Sakura, civilian from Kusagakure, visiting the village." Sakura said as she pulled her false I.D. out of her bag.

The guard looked at her I.D. for what seemed like an eternity, but was only a couple minutes, before letting her in.

"Enjoy your stay Sasaki-san." He said.

Inner Sakura cheered while Outer Sakura bowed quickly and forced herself to walk at a normal civilian pace into the place that she once called home. Once she was in, Sakura made sure that she blended in nicely in the crowd. Letting herself be swept away for a moment, Sakura waited till she was close to a dark alley. She slipped into the dark alley and set her bag down. She formed a quick hand seal and let another henge take over her body. In her place was a small girl with a dark red civilian yukata with black hair that brushed her shoulder and the same brown eyes as usual. She slipped out of the alley and sat down in the middle of the street. She smirked before letting out an ear piercing scream.

AN HOUR LATER

Hinata Hyuga had been in many different situations, fighting to the death with her cousin, the hostile glares from the elders of her clan, being deemed unworthy by her father and most recently, the death of her best friend, Sakura. But, nothing prepared her for this. Her father sat on her right while Neji sat on her left. Tsunade sat across from the Hyugas waiting for someone to break the silence, which Hinata was not about to do since she had a five year old child sitting on her lap.

"A-Ano…" Hinata began. "W-why h-h-have you br-brought a c-child here?"

"ANBU claim that she wanted to see you, and that little brat wouldn't stop screaming until I personally escorted her here to you." Tsunade said feeling a headache coming on.

"This is not your child is it, Hinata?" Hiashi asked.

"Father!" Hinata exclaimed appalled at the very thought.

"Uncle Hiashi is just making sure Hinata-sama." Neji said.

Hinata's face turned red as she murmured a quick apology.

Tsunade sighed as she got up to leave.

"I don't know. She won't answer any questions so I was hoping you could look after for the day and get some words out of her mouth." Tsunade said. "I need some more Sake."

Before any of the Hyuga's could stop their Hokage, she shut the door and left the manor. All pale lavender pupil-less eyes turned to the little girl. The little girl beamed and threw her small arms around Hinata's neck.

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH HINATA-CHAN!" She cried.

Hinata let out a small 'EEP' and fell backwards.

"D-do I k-kn-know y-you?" Hinata asked.

The girl turned her head up and made quick hand seals for a Genjutsu. Hiashi and Neji immediately shot up.

"Pull those sticks out of your asses and sit down." She said.

Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly. The girl sounded like Sakura.

"I just made sure no one would recognize me." She said.

Sakura dispelled her henge and let her body change back to normal. The Hyuga's eyes widened as Sakura lifted her pink head a made a peace sign with a large grin.

"Hey guys!" Sakura said cheerfully.

"Sakura! Your alive!" Hinata exclaimed.

"You bet I am." Sakura replied.

"Karin lied to us then. I believed you were alive. She thought us some bull shit about you being killed by the Akatsuki." Hinata said.

"I kinda of figured that stupid bitch would say something like that. Well she is right about one thing. I am with the Akatsuki and I found out something very interest. My grandfather is the Otokage of Otogakure." Sakura said.

"Wow. I never knew that you had a grandfather." Neji said.

"Yea I didn't know either until I met him a month ago. His name is Daichi Haruno." Sakura said in excitement.

"I have a question for you Hinata and Neji. Leader-sama of the Akatsuki is offering you membership in the Akatsuki and to get back at Konoha for lying about my death. If you're interested, please tell me before I leave tomorrow night. The offer extends to Anko, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino and his father, Iruka, Ibiki, Izumo and Kotetsu, Choji and his father, Shikamaru and his father, Sai, Tenten, Shizune and the pervert Genma, Lee and Might Guy, Udon, Moegi, Konohamaru, Kurenai and Asuma, Suigetsu, Yamato, and Ino sluts father Inoichi. You can come as well Hiashi." Sakura said.

"I thank you for the offer, but I must decline." Hiashi said. "But Hinata and Neji will go with you to get out of this hell hole."

"Like uncle Hiashi said we will go with you. We will go with you. It's become a hell hole after your apparent death." Neji said.

"Yes I want to go with you. It's become very lonely without you. I'm sure the others will go with you." Hinata said.

"Ok let's go get Shikamaru." Sakura said.

With that said Hinata, Neji, and Sakura bid Hiashi a farewell and left the Hyuga manor after Sakura put her henge back on.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Hinata held little Sakura's hand as the small girl wore a huge grin on her face. Just a few minutes ago, she explained how she almost died, how she found out her grandfather was the Otokage of Otogakure, how she is a part of the Akatsuki, and what her mission is. Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuga, declined the offer and allowed Neji and Hinata to go. So now Sakura has to ask Choji, Shikamaru, Sai, Tenten, Anko, Iruka, Shizune, Ibiki, Lee and Might Guy, Chouza, Shukaku, Moegi, Konohamaru, Udon, Yamato, Asuma and Kurenai, Kotetsu, Izumo, Shino and Shibi, Genma, Kiba and Akamaru, Inoichi, and Suigetsu. Hiashi and Neji didn't seem to surprise to hear that Karin tried to kill her. Now Hinata, Neji, and 'Little' Sakura was on their way to Shikamaru's apartment and then to Sai's. Hinata knocked on Shikamaru's door softly. They heard a sigh and some shuffling. They heard a click and the door opened to reveal a tired looking Shikamaru.

"A-Ano, s-sorry f-for sh-showing up u-unannounced." Hinata stuttered.

"It's fine. Don't apologize. Come in." Shikamaru said.

Hinata gently tugged Sakura in with her seeing that Sakura was staring into space making an amused face. The lazy genius led the two girls into his living room where Sai sat, with his usual fake smile, at a Shogi board.

"What do you need Hinata?" Shikamaru asked.

Hinata looked down at 'Little' Sakura and gently tugged her forward. Sakura stepped forward and dropped her henge. Maybe being killed was worth the looks on Shikamaru and Sai's face.

"Um, you guys can close your mouths unless you want a fly to go in there." Sakura giggled.

"Y-You're alive." Shikamaru said stunned.

"Yep and it was thanks to three Otogakure ninjas. They rescued me and healed me." Sakura said.

"Wow. Karin said that you were killed by the Akatsuki. Was that a lie?" Sai asked.

"Yes that stupid slut tried to kill me. She almost succeeded if it wasn't for the three Otogakure ninjas. I am part of Otogakure and I am also a part of the Akatsuki." Sakura said.

"You're an apart of the Akatsuki and Otogakure. Since when?" Shikamaru asked.

"Since I found out that my grandfather, who I thought was dead, is the Otokage and since I was kidnapped by the Akatsuki to be their healer." Sakura said.

Shikamaru and Sai were stunned at the news.

"I also came here on a mission and that's to see if you and Sai and a few others will join the Akatsuki. Leader-sama is offering you and the others a membership in the Akatsuki. Neji and Hinata are already going with me and what I want to know is if you will come with us and leave this fucking hell hole." Sakura said.

"Of course we'll go with you. It's been nothing but a hell hole without you. When do you leave?" Shikamaru asked.

"Tomorrow night." Sakura said.

"Come on I got to go ask a few other people the offer." Sakura said as she put on her henge.

Neji didn't say anything to Shikamaru and Sai and they all left Shikamaru's apartment.

LEAVING SHIKAMARU'S APARTMENT

Shikamaru, Neji, and Sai walked behind Hinata, who was holding 'Little' Sakura's hand while she skipped like a little girl when they all heard a loud yell of someone's name being called.

"HINATA-CHAN!" somebody yelled.

Hinata let an annoyed groan when she saw Naruto.

"I haven't seen you in a while. I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date with me at Ichiraku's." Naruto asked.

"_Jerk."_ Sakura thought. _"Doesn't seem that he's that upset about my 'death'." _

"No. I thought I told you that I didn't like you anymore." Hinata said in a slightly annoyed voice.

Unfazed by Hinata's reply, Naruto looked down and saw a little girl holding Hinata's hand.

"Who's the little girl?" Naruto asked.

"Th-this i-is S-S-Sakura-chan." Hinata said.

Naruto started sweating.

"S-Sakura?" he said. "She's alive? Why is she so small?"

"_No suffix." _Sakura thought.

"Wrong Sakura, Dobe." Sasuke said as he walked up behind Naruto.

"Sasuke-teme." Naruto growled.

"Sakura is obviously dead. Her gravestone says it." Sasuke said.

"B-But her name is Sakura!" Naruto said.

"_What an idiot." _Everyone thought.

"There is more than one person that can be called 'Sakura'." Sasuke said.

Sakura's tint fist clenched. How dare they belittle her death so easily? Sakura walked up to Sasuke and kicked him in his shins as hard as a little girl could. He cursed loudly and Sakura swore she heard Kisame's laugh through her Akatsuki ring.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Hinata gasped.

"You-you-you stupid butt face that hair that looks like a chicken's ass." 'Little' Sakura yelled at Sasuke. "Sakura Haruno will always be much better than a person that has hair will always be better than you."

Being a small child was fun. Impersonating someone else and declaring that you were better than the Sasuke Uchiha was the best. Especially since he couldn't do anything about it.

"You bit-"Sasuke started but he was interrupted by Neji.

"Language Uchiha." Neji said.

"N-Neji nii-san!" Hinata exclaimed.

Sasuke 'tched' and stood up straight.

"Whatever." He said leaving.

"Oi! Wait for me Teme." Naruto said chasing after the Uchiha.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"They're idiots." 'Little' Sakura declared.

Everybody couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"Come on guys, I got others to talk to about joining the Akatsuki." 'Little' Sakura said.

With that said, everybody took off towards the Academy, then Interrogation unit, and to Nara Compound and then to the gates.

AT THE GATES

Sakura hugged her friends one last time before she would see them at the Akatsuki hideout and waved goodbye to them. Dropping her henge, Sakura jumped into the forest to meet up with Itachi and Kisame.

While jumping through the woods to meet up with Itachi and Kisame, Sakura thought about those who said they were going to join her in the Akatsuki. Iruka said he and Anko will go. Kurenai and Asuma said they will go. Ibiki said he would go. Kotetsu and Izumo said they will go. The Konohamaru Corps said they will go. Lee and Might Guy said they will go. Choji said he will go but his father said he declines the offer but he said thanks for the offer. Kiba said he will go. Shino said he would but his father declined but thanked her for the offer. Genma, Shizune, Tenten, Suigetsu, and Yamato said they would go. Inoichi declined saying he had to watch his irresponsible daughter and he thanked her for the offer. Shukaku also declined the offer saying it was troublesome to leave but thanked her for the offer.

Sakura stopped her thoughts when she met up with Itachi and Kisame.

"Nice work, Kitten." Kisame grinned showing his sharp teeth.

"Thanks Sharky." Sakura said.

"Let us leave the Fire border." Itachi said barely acknowledging the kunoichi.

"He could have at least said something to me." Sakura pouted.

"Don't worry about it. He probably doesn't feel as secure here." Kisame said. "Let's go before he leaves us behind."

Two and a half days later, the trio reached the Akatsuki base.

"The mission was successful Leader-sama." Itachi said.

"Good." Pein said. "Show our newest member to her room and have Konan escort her back to Otogakure."

"Yes Leader-sama." Itachi replied.

WITH SAKURA AND ITACHI

Sakura decided that her room, to put it very bluntly, was very plain. White walls, white sheets and close to no furniture. There was only a closet and night stand. At least the hardwood floor style.

"This is your room." Itachi said. "Konan's room is down the hall and the bathroom is across from your room."

"Thank you Itachi-san." Sakura said.

"Hn. I apologize if your room is not to your satisfaction." Itachi said.

"No, no." Sakura protested. "It's fine! I can just go to Otogakure and get some things to make the room more suitable. You don't need to apologize."

"Aa. Leader-sama has assigned me to make sure you comfortable. I am two rooms down right of yours."

"_So that's why he was so nice." _Sakura thought.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll leave tomorrow afternoon." Sakura said. "Let's go down stairs to greet everyone else."

DOWNSTAIRS

"Did you pass Sakura, un?" Deidara asked from the TV room.

"Yeppers! Looks like you guys are stuck with me." Sakura grinned. "What's for dinner?"

"Fucking take-out." Hidan replied. "You made it just in fucking time. It's my fucking turn to choose movies."

Sakura made her-self comfortable since everyone else looked fine. No one looked too repulsed or frightened.

"_I'll be fine. Everyone looks fine." _Sakura thought. _"What's the worst movie that Hidan could have chosen?"_

Sakura was in for a night.

AFTER THE MOVIE WAS OVER.

Sakura sat wide eyed on the couch. Her entire body was as stiff as a tree and her nails were making holes in the poor pillow she had grabbed. She didn't even know you could torture a person that much until they died!

"You ok, bitch?" Hidan asked.

"F-F-Fine!" Sakura squeaked. "J-J-Ju-Just p-peachy."

"Are you sure Cherry-chan?" Tobi asked. "Cherry doesn't look so good. Maybe the pretty lady needs candy?"

"_How can Tobi's poor childish mind survive Hidan's movie selections?" _ Sakura thought.

"Let go of the pillow, un." Deidara said.

"I-I can't." Sakura squeaked again. "How can you stand those movies."

"We've been here way longer than you have, Kitten." Kisame said. "Those were Hidan's easy movies. We made sure he didn't choose anything too scary."

Sakura found the strength to scoff.

"Come on, Kitten." Kisame said. "Up you go."

Kisame lifted up the small trembling girl's body from the couch. Sakura's knees trembled so badly, the Akatsuki was afraid that she would fall over any moment. Her fingers dug deeper into the pillow.

"Get some rest Sakura-san." Itachi advised.

Sakura nodded meekly and started heading up the stairs with jerky movements. Half way up the stairs, she stopped.

"Will someone please come to the washroom with me please?" she asked.

Everybody in the TV room laughed except Itachi. Sakura could hear their laughs except Itachi. Itachi got up and walked to where Sakura was standing.

"I'll escort you to the bathroom Sakura-san." Itachi said.

"Thanks Itachi-san." Sakura said.

Itachi nodded his head.

Itachi and Sakura headed up the stairs to the washroom. Along the way, Sakura heard a noise from somewhere in the hall, she jumped and grabbed Itachi's hand and entwined their fingers. Itachi didn't say anything but was secretly happily that Sakura grabbed his hand.

Itachi and Sakura made it to the washroom. Sakura turned to Itachi and stood on her tippy toes and kissed Itachi on the lips. Itachi was stunned and slowly kissed Sakura back. They pulled apart.

"Thank you Itachi for escorting me to the washroom. Goodnight." Sakura said as she kissed Itachi again.

"Hn. Your welcome." Itachi said and kissed Sakura back again.

"Sakura-san if you don't stop, I will not be responsible for what happens next." Itachi said.

"What if I want you to continue?" Sakura asked.

Itachi sucked in air. Itachi was getting horny because of all the thoughts he was thinking of doing some things to Sakura.

"Come to my room later and we'll discuss this." Itachi said and walked away to his room hiding his boner.

Sakura smiled and went into the washroom and washed up before going into her room to get ready for the night and to go to Itachi's room.


End file.
